Services · private jet charter
How I arrange charter flights for clients, what a jet actually costs, and the part people are usually too polite to ask about: what I charge. For a simple point-to-point flight, nothing.
The first question I get about private aviation isn’t about the aircraft. It’s “what is this going to cost me to go through you?”
Fair question, so here’s the whole answer up front. For a point-to-point flight — one departure, one arrival, home again on a set date — I don’t charge a fee. You see my charter partner’s quote exactly as it came to me, line by line, and you pay that number. Where I do charge is a multi-destination trip: three cities in five days, a jet timed to meet a yacht, an itinerary where the flying and the hotels and the cars all have to be designed together. That’s planning work, and it carries a flat fee quoted in writing before I start.
One thing to know: I don’t operate aircraft, and I’m not pretending to. I work with a small set of vetted charter partners I’ve used for clients before. What I bring is the same thing I bring to hotels — judgment about what’s right for you, and someone in your corner whose only job is getting you the right aircraft at an honest number.
The line is simple. If it’s a flight, there’s no fee. If it’s a trip I have to design, there is one — and you’ll know the number before I lift a finger.
Teterboro to Palm Beach for the weekend. Napa to Cabo and back. Athens to Mykonos when the ferry is a non-starter. I source the aircraft from operators I trust, you see the quote itemized, and you pay that number — nothing added by me, no membership, no card to buy into. What you get on top is someone who has done this before reading the fine print for you.
Nothing added on my side
Same quote, someone in your corner
Three cities in a week. A jet timed to a yacht in the Cyclades. A family on two coasts meeting in Aspen. When the flying has to be built around hotels, cars, crew-duty limits and a calendar, that’s an itinerary, not a booking — and it carries a flat planning fee, quoted in writing before I do anything. No hourly meter, no surprise line at the end.
One flat fee, in writing, up front
Covers the whole itinerary, not just the flying
For clients who travel often — call it four or more trips a year — I offer a small number of annual arrangements: one flat yearly fee, and everything on demand. The jets, the hotels, the boats between islands, the tables, points strategy, and someone to call while you’re away. No per-trip planning fees, no wondering what a given request costs. Concierge-style travel with a single number attached, offered by invitation to a handful of clients each year. If that sounds like you, say so in the note below.
Every line, before you say yes
A charter quote should read like an invoice, not a menu. When I send one over, it’s my charter partner’s number, itemized, with the parts that tend to surprise people called out in plain English.
The aircraft and the operator, by name. Type and year of the specific aircraft, not a category, and the certificated operator actually flying it. If the operator needs to substitute later, you’ll know why and what changes.
Flight time at the hourly rate. Charter is priced by the flight hour, and the biggest line is simply hours times rate. I’ll tell you the rate and the block time so you can check the math yourself.
Positioning. If the aircraft has to fly empty to reach you, you pay for that leg. It’s the most common reason two quotes for the same route differ — the closer aircraft is usually the cheaper one, and I’ll tell you when it isn’t the better one.
Taxes and fees, itemized. In the US, the 7.5% federal excise tax and segment fees. In Europe, VAT where it applies. Landing, handling and crew overnights on multi-day trips. All visible, none tacked on afterward.
What can still move. De-icing on a winter morning, catering you add, an overnight the weather forces. These are true pass-throughs, and I’ll flag which lines they are before you sign so nothing on the final invoice is a surprise.
What isn’t there. No markup from me. No membership, no jet card, no “concierge fee.” If a line on a quote can’t be explained in a sentence, it doesn’t belong on the quote.
What I make on it. I’m paid a commission by the charter partner. It doesn’t change your number, and if you ask what it is, I’ll tell you. A commission is not a reason to show you a worse deal; I’d rather book you ten flights over ten years than one padded one.
You should be able to read the quote and understand exactly what you’re paying for. If you can’t, I haven’t done my job.
Ballpark hourly rates, all-in
People are usually guessing at the number, in both directions. Here’s the honest range for on-demand charter, priced per flight hour with fuel, crew and standard fees included. Your quote will land somewhere in here; where depends on the aircraft, the date, and where the closest suitable one happens to be sitting.
Light jet, 4–7 seats: roughly $5,000–8,000 an hour. Phenom 300, Citation CJ3 and CJ4. Two to three hours of comfortable range — New York to Palm Beach, Los Angeles to Aspen, Napa to Cabo. The workhorse of domestic charter.
Midsize, 7–8 seats: roughly $7,000–10,000 an hour. Citation XLS, Learjet 60, Hawker 800. A proper lavatory, room to move, and enough range to cross the country with a stop.
Super-midsize, 8–10 seats: roughly $9,000–13,000 an hour. Challenger 350, Citation Longitude, Praetor 600. Nonstop coast to coast in a stand-up cabin. For most families, this is the sweet spot.
Heavy and ultra-long-range, 10–16 seats: roughly $12,000–20,000+ an hour. Gulfstream G450 through G650, Global 6000 and 7500, Falcon 8X. Transatlantic nonstop, a bed that’s actually a bed, and you arrive rested.
Minimums and one-ways. Most operators bill a daily minimum of about two flight hours, and a one-way is often priced like a round trip because the aircraft has to come home. Which is where empty legs come in.
Empty legs. When an aircraft has to reposition anyway, that leg sells at a steep discount — often 30 to 50 percent off. Flexible on dates and times? Tell me, and I’ll watch for one. Not flexible? They’re not for you, and I’ll say so rather than waste your week.
For six of you on a three-hour flight, the per-seat number is often closer to first class than people expect. For a couple crossing the Atlantic, it isn’t — and I’ll tell you when it isn’t.
The honest fine print
The aircraft is the easy part. What separates a smooth charter from an expensive lesson is the operator behind it, the contract you sign, and the plan for when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
Safety is where I start, not where I finish. Only operators holding a Part 135 certificate in the US or an Air Operator Certificate in Europe, and I ask for the ARGUS or Wyvern audit status on the specific operator flying you. A cheap quote from an operator that can’t show it isn’t a bargain.
Quotes are estimates until they’re contracts. A quote holds for the aircraft it names, usually for a day or two. Once you sign the charter agreement the price is fixed apart from the true pass-throughs. I’ll tell you which lines can move before you sign, not after.
Cancellation terms vary a lot. Some operators are flexible until 48 hours out. Peak-date bookings are often non-refundable the moment you sign. I read this part so you don’t have to, and I’ll tell you in one line what you’re committing to.
Peak days cost more and sell out. Thanksgiving, Christmas week, Presidents’ Day, Aspen in February, the Hamptons on a Friday in July. Expect surcharges, and book weeks ahead rather than days.
International adds paperwork, not just miles. Customs, overflight permits, crew rest, and a limit on how many hours a crew can work in a day. A transatlantic isn’t a longer version of a domestic hop; it’s a different plan, and it gets planned that way.
Pets, luggage, and the golf clubs. Most operators welcome pets in the cabin. Baggage is what catches people: a light jet has a small hold, and a pair of ski bags or a set of clubs is the difference between one cabin class and the next. Tell me what’s coming with you.
Handled properly, it’s the most civilized travel day you’ll ever have. Handled casually, it’s a very expensive way to learn what a repositioning fee is.
Charter brokers are good at aircraft. Hotels are good at rooms. Nobody on either side is looking at your whole trip, and that’s the part I care about. When the flight comes through me it’s connected to everything else: a car waiting on the ramp at the FBO, a check-in that actually lines up with your wheels-down, and a hotel that knows you’re landing at a private terminal rather than walking out of arrivals.
One more thing, because it’s the quiet worry underneath the fee question. I won’t put an option in front of you that I don’t think is fair to you. Not because it’s noble — because it’s obvious. People who fly private fly often, and the ones who come back are the ones who were never once left wondering whether the number was honest. Squeezing one booking is a very expensive way to lose the next twenty.
And if the honest answer is that you should fly commercial — a nonstop in first class for a fraction of the cost, booked on points you already have — I’ll tell you that too. I consult on points; it’s the same conversation.
Already have a broker, a jet card or a fractional share? Keep it. I’m happy to work around what you have and simply build the trip on the other side of the ramp.
The fee question, one more time, because it’s the one that matters: a flight from A to B costs you nothing to run through me. A trip I have to design costs a flat fee you’ll see before I start. And if you’d rather never think about either, that’s what the retainer is for.
Not for a point-to-point flight. You see my charter partner’s quote as it came to me and you pay that number — nothing added. A multi-destination itinerary — several legs, or flights that have to be designed around hotels, cars and a yacht — carries a flat planning fee, quoted in writing before I begin.
I take a commission from the charter partner on the booking, the same way hotels pay me. It doesn’t change your price, and if you ask what it is, I’ll tell you — the actual number, not a vague “the partner compensates me.” I’d rather you know than wonder.
Priced per flight hour, all-in: roughly $5,000–8,000 for a light jet, $7,000–10,000 for a midsize, $9,000–13,000 for a super-midsize, and $12,000–20,000 or more for a heavy or ultra-long-range aircraft. Positioning, daily minimums and peak dates move the number up; empty legs bring it down. The full breakdown is above.
No. You pay my charter partner’s quote as it came to me; I don’t add to it. What you get on top is someone comparing operators, checking the safety audits, reading the contract, and tying the flight to the rest of the trip.
A flight an aircraft has to make anyway — repositioning for its next job, or heading home — sold at a steep discount, often 30 to 50 percent off. They only work if your dates and times can bend to the aircraft’s. If they can, tell me and I’ll watch for one.
It comes down to hours. Below about 25 flight hours a year, on-demand charter is almost always the better deal and keeps you free to pick the right aircraft for each trip. Above that, a card or a share can make sense — and if it does for you, I’ll say so.
For a domestic flight on an ordinary date, 48 to 72 hours is workable and a week is comfortable. Peak holidays, ski weekends and international routes need two to four weeks — the good aircraft are spoken for early, and permits take time.
Yes — transatlantic to Europe, flights within Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean. International adds customs, permits and crew-duty limits, so it’s planned differently from a domestic hop, and I’ll walk you through what changes.
Usually, yes — in the cabin, on your lap or at your feet. Tell me up front so I choose an operator that welcomes pets rather than tolerates them.
Yes. For clients taking four or more trips a year I offer an annual retainer: one flat yearly fee, unlimited planning, and everything — jets, hotels, transfers, points strategy, support while you’re away — on demand, with no per-trip fees. It’s offered to a small number of clients each year. Mention it when you write and I’ll walk you through how it works.
Yes. Nothing gets cancelled or rebooked — I source the aircraft, time it to your check-in and check-out, and put a car on the ramp at both ends. Send me the route and your confirmations; that’s all I need to start.
Tell me the route, the dates, and how many of you — I’ll come back with the right aircraft and a real, itemized number.